Data Test Manager

Job Description

Data Test Manager

Reporting to: Head of Data Engineering and Delivery

Division/ Team: Data

Location: London

Regulated Position?: No

Position held within 3 Lines Model:  1st Line

About us

Starr is a global insurance and investment organisation providing property and casualty insurance solutions to business and industry. Starr has grown into one of the world’s fastest-expanding insurance organisations, writing business in 128 countries across six continents. Our talented and experienced associates manage risk and ultimately support the profitable growth of organisations in a dynamic, competitive and ever-changing marketplace. Join us and become part of our talented and passionate workforce.

Starr London

In London, Starr operates at the heart of the global specialty insurance market. Through our Lloyd’s platform and company market presence, we bring together deep underwriting expertise, strong broker relationships and meaningful capacity across a broad range of classes.

We work in close partnership with brokers and clients, combining data, insight and experience to respond quickly, cut through complexity and deliver clear, practical solutions. It’s a fast-moving environment, where responsiveness, clarity and consistency define how we meet the moment.

Role Purpose

The Data Team sits at the centre of a significant period of change. Following Starr’s acquisition of the IQUW syndicate, an integration programme is under way to bring IT, Data and Underwriting infrastructure together across the combined business, running alongside the continued build-out of the DNA Hub Data Lakehouse into business functions. The Data Test Manager owns quality assurance and testing across that work. The role is accountable for the accuracy, reliability and performance of the data platform and the solutions built on it, for the test strategy and automation framework the Data Team works to, and for the evidence that gives the business confidence in the numbers it makes decisions on. It leads and develops a team of test analysts, and works closely with data engineers, data architects, business analysts and project managers, and with business stakeholders across Underwriting, Claims, Finance and Central MI.

• Exciting Opportunity: Join Starr at a pivotal point – a multi-year Data & Analytics transformation running alongside the integration of the recently acquired IQUW syndicate, using modern cloud technologies to build a market-leading Data Team and a cloud-enabled Data Lakehouse that supports the current and future data needs of the combined business.
• Strategic Leadership: Develop and own the test strategy for all data-related projects, covering data warehouses and platforms, ETL pipelines, AI agents, CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, and business intelligence solutions.
• Quality Gatekeeper: Act as the primary guardian of data quality, putting in place the testing frameworks and processes that validate data from source through to final report.
• Team & Stakeholder Management: Lead and mentor a team of test analysts, while collaborating with data engineers, data architects, business analysts and project managers to keep quality standards aligned across the Data Team.
• Execution & Reporting Excellence: Oversee the whole testing lifecycle, from planning and script development through to execution and defect management, with clear reporting on test progress, risks and overall solution quality to senior stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Test Strategy & Planning:

• Own an end-to-end test strategy and automation framework for data projects, defining the scope of testing for each project across data warehouses and platforms, ETL pipelines, data models and reporting solutions.
• Produce test plans setting out timelines, resources and deliverables for all phases – unit, integration, system, regression, performance and user acceptance testing – and champion automation where it increases coverage and efficiency.
• Provide recommendation-based test approaches and methods that influence key business decisions and solution design, working with business teams, project managers, architects and technical leads.

Data, Pipeline & Model Assurance:

• Validate extraction, transformation and loading so that data moves accurately and completely from source systems into the data warehouse, and verify transformations against business rules and logic.
• Validate logical and physical data models against business requirements, and test the performance and scalability of ETL jobs against operational SLAs.
• Develop and execute complex SQL and Python queries for data validation and source-to-target reconciliation, with reporting that highlights and tracks discrepancies.
• Implement data quality checks that surface anomalies, inconsistencies and missing data at each stage of the pipeline.
• Champion the use and development of AI tooling, such as Databricks Genie and Claude, to increase testing velocity and data quality through innovation.

Reporting, Defects & Stakeholder Assurance:

• Validate the accuracy and functionality of BI reports, dashboards and other data solutions such as data marts, analytical models and data lakes, confirming that what the business sees is consistent with the underlying warehouse data.
• Lead the test execution phase, so that test cases are executed effectively and results are accurately documented.
• Own defect management from logging and triage through to resolution and re-testing.
• Report on execution, defect status, cycle statistics, performance and quality metrics for project stakeholders and senior management, and communicate testing risks, issues and dependencies to project leadership.

Line Management:

• Foster a high performance culture, that focuses on growth, excellence and continuous improvement.
• Embed Starr’s Performance Management framework within the team, set strategically aligned objectives and monitor and manage performance.
• Effectively manage resources and workloads, delegating effectively to ensure team productivity and performance.
• Play an active role in initiatives that recognise talent and support colleagues’ career growth, including assessing learning needs, identifying talent, and succession planning.
• Support the development of colleagues, through mentoring and coaching, focusing on professional growth and critical future skills and competencies.
• Foster a positive, inclusive work environment and role model our values and behaviours, addressing any conduct issues in an effective and respectful manner.
• Facilitate transparent communication and collaboration within the team and the broader business and ensure team members are informed, engaged, and aligned with organisational goals.
• Support change management efforts, guiding the team through transitions and bringing them on the journey.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list, and you may be required to undertake other reasonable duties compatible with your experience and competencies. This description may be varied from time to time to reflect changing business requirements.

Conduct Rules

All employees are subject to the following regulatory conduct rules:

• You must act with integrity.
• You must act with due care, skill and diligence.
• You must be open and cooperative with the FCA, the PRA and other regulators.
• You must pay due regard to the interests of customers and treat them fairly.
• You must observe proper standards of market conduct
• You must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers

Qualifications, skills and experience

Essential

• Proven track record of owning test strategy and leading the test lifecycle on data projects, including defect management and test reporting to senior stakeholders.
• Solid hands-on experience with Azure DevOps, SQL, Python and Databricks, and with designing data solutions, reports, calculation logic, data processes and dashboards.
• Experience of data warehousing projects, including Kimball star schema dimensional modelling.
• Knowledge of test automation tools and approaches for data projects.
• Experience of translating business requirements into testable acceptance criteria and data solutions.
• Experience of leading and developing a team of test analysts or engineers.
• Experience of commercial insurance, or transferable experience from another regulated, data-intensive industry.

Desirable

• Specialty Lloyd’s or London market insurance experience.
• Opportunity to develop Agentic Testing frameworks as part of a wider Agentic Software Development Lifecycle.
• Interest in developing knowledge of emerging data engineering technologies and testing best practice.

Core behavioural expectations

• Analysis and decision making
• Innovation and problem solving
• Performance focus
• Communication and influence
• Development of self and others
• Resilience and adaptability

Additional Information

• A full job description can be seen here

Starr is an equal opportunity employer, which means we will consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We recruit and develop our people based on merit and we're committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We offer first class training and development opportunities to all employees. Our aim is to grow our own talent and bring out the best in people.

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